Avast announced the launch of its annual Threat Landscape Report, detailing the biggest security trends facing consumers in 2019 as collected by the Avast Threat Labs team.
Some of the key security trends that will evolve or continue to impact consumers in 2019 include:
The Dawn of Adversarial AI
We foresee the emergence of a class of attacks known as ‘DeepAttacks’, which use AI-generated content to evade AI security controls.
In 2019, we expect to see DeepAttacks deployed more commonly in an attempt to evade both human detection and smart defences.
IoT Threats Will Become More Sophisticated
The trend toward smart devices will be so pronounced in the coming years that it will become difficult to buy appliances or home electronics that are not connected to the internet.
Router Attacks Will Advance
Routers have proven to be a simple and fertile target for a growing wave of attacks. In 2018, not only have we seen an increase in router-based malware but also changes in the characteristics of those attacks.
In 2019, we expect to see the increased hijacking of routers used to steal banking credentials.
The Evolution of Mobile Threats
In 2019, well known tactics such as advertising, phishing and fake apps will continue to dominate the mobile threat landscape. In 2018, we tracked and flagged countless fake apps using our platform. They will continue to persist as a trend in 2019.
“This year, we celebrated the 30th anniversary of the World Wide Web. Fast forward thirty years and the threat landscape is exponentially more complex, and the available attack surface is growing faster than it has at any other point in the history of technology.” Commented Ondrej Vlcek, President of Consumer at Avast.
“PC viruses, while still a global threat, have been joined by a multitude of malware categories that deliver more attacks. People are acquiring more and varied types of connected devices, meaning every aspect of our lives could be compromised by an attack. Looking ahead to 2019, these trends point to a magnification of threats through these expanding threat surfaces.”
